


Chapped Lips

by Creatortan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, PINING KEITH, and he has pretty lips, and keith is distracted, and lance likes looking pretty and wearing makeups, gender neutral pronouns for pidge, kissing!!!, lance is good with kids, lance is pretty, pining lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 15:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12257400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creatortan/pseuds/Creatortan
Summary: Lance's lips were a distraction, sometimes. Keith just couldn't keep his eyes off of them.





	Chapped Lips

Lance had very chapped lips.

It was like he just forgot about them, in that intensive skincare regimen he had. He just seemed to let his lips be.

Lance also often bit at his lips when he was stressed or focused. His teeth very often peeked out to nibble and peel at the skin. Lance could go for several minutes, unconsciously worrying at his lips, until they turned a flushed red, as if he was wearing lipstick. (Or if his lips were bruised, but Keith didn’t think about why Lance’s lips could be bruised, nor did he even take notice when Lance’s lips _ were _ that pretty rouge color, plump and soft looking, standing out against his dark skin and perfectly white teeth.)

To combat the dryness, Lance wore chapstick. Keith could often find little tubes of the stuff scattered around the castle, from Lance’s carelessness. They were always brightly colored, sometimes they were glittery. Sometimes Keith could see the light sheen, the vague hint of color on Lance’s lips from them.

Lance’s favorite tube of chapstick was one given to him by a young princess, no older than 7 in earth years, from a planet they had liberated. Someone had to be stuck with babysitting duty while the others dismantled a Galra base, and surprisingly, Lance had immediately volunteered. (Well, not so surprisingly, really, not with the family photo that hung on Blue’s dash, all the children hanging off of Lance’s arms and legs, bright smiles against the background of a beach.) 

When Shiro raised concerns about forming Voltron, the princess looked up at him with her 8 big eyes and practically begged for “the fun blue one” to stay with her. The Queen, already distraught at the situation, quietly pulled Shiro aside, and Keith heard her mention that Lance bared remarkable similarities to the princess’s favorite nanny, who was lost in the crossfire months ago. Shiro couldn’t turn the plea down.

So Lance stayed with the princess, and when they all got back on the ship, he boasted his gifts: a beaded necklace, a handful of pressed flowers, and a bright pink tube of chapstick. Coran deemed it safe for human use, and that was that. (Sometimes, Keith caught sight of the necklace under Lance’s shirt, carefully tucked away close to his heart, but he never said anything.)

Sometimes Lance will forget he’s wearing chapstick. Keith would see his tongue dart out of his mouth and immediately backtrack once it tasted the chapstick.

Lance’s favorite chapstick had an artificial taste, something fruity, almost. Keith only knew this because of their time on Ky’arnth, an ice planet. The bitter cold was present even indoors, where they had taken their helmets off in respect, as not to offend their hosts. They all had matching cherry flushes over their cheeks because of the wind. Keith went to grimace at something—he doesn’t remember what—but the movement had caused the skin on his lip to stretch painfully, almost tearing. Keith hissed quietly, but it seemed the wind hadn’t drowned out the sound entirely; Lance leaned over in concern. With a casual air, he quickly rummaged through his pockets and tossed Keith the little neon tube. Keith, uncaring, popped open the lid and smeared the stuff directly onto his lips.

He handed the tube back, and when he ran his tongue instinctively over his lips he was almost overwhelmed by the sweet taste. His mind unhelpfully supplied the fact that Lance’s lips probably tasted just like the chapstick, just like Keith’s lips. Keith cut that train of thought off before it could go any further. (He also didn’t think about the fact that his lips touched where Lance’s lips had touched, at least, not until later, when he laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, touching his fingertips to his mouth and wondering if the taste had finally worn off yet—or if his lips still tasted like Lance’s.)

Lance was comfortable wearing more on his lips than just chapstick, though. In fact, he loved makeup of all kinds. It seemed the only people who knew this other than Lance himself were Hunk and Pidge, and because there wasn’t really makeup in space, it never came up. 

Until Viralla, where the people distinguished one another by individualized face paints. According to Allura, the bare minimum to differentiate between them would have just been a  designed stripe or two down a certain part of their faces. Lance, who has already seen the extravagant and complicated designs of the Vir’ians, pouted, pursing his lips.

Keith was pretty uncomfortable with the Vir’ians touching him. Their makeup brushes were long and thin, and felt cool and slimy along his face. His face was scrunched up at the sensation, causing the makeup artist to titter. Keith overheard Lance talking to his Vir’ian--Keith thought it was flirting, but the awe in Lance’s voice sounded too sincere. Keith opened an eye, glancing over at Lance.

“It’s so beautiful...it really brings out your eyes,” Lance said, a bright smile on his face, “that must’ve taken so long but the lines are so smooth....” 

The Vir’ian doing Lance’s makeup hummed. They were mixing his colors with their delicate fingers. Lance fiddled with his fingers, suddenly looking sheepish, and shyly mumbled something to the Vir’ian. They nodded enthusiastically, and Lance’s face lit up. 

The Vir’ian doing Keith’s makeup clicked their tongue frustratedly. They turned Keith’s chin and made him close his eyes. Afterwards, Keith was shoved out the door with the rest of the paladins. They all looked at each other’s stripes appraisingly. 

Keith’s own stripe went down the left side of his face, from his hairline down to his jaw. It was a dark maroon at its top and bottom, and grew brighter the closer it reached his eye. Pidge’s went horizontally from one cheekbone to the other, and was framed by two bright orange stripes on the outsides, with a braided green pattern between them. Keith had to do a double-take on Hunk’s stripe, because it went over his forehead in the same manner his usual headband did. It was a shimmering gold and trailed down his forehead like Allura’s crown, except it was made of heavy, geometric designs. Shiro’s design went horizontally from under his left eye and down his jaw and neck, and was silvery and almost opalescent. His seemed to match Allura’s, who had a similarly glittering horizontal stripe in the opposite direction. Coran let his Vir’ians go crazy, and had several multi-colored stripes framing his face like a cartoon sun.

Then they noticed Lance wasn’t with them. Allura asked a nearby Vir’ian, and turned to the rest of them with a confused frown. 

“Nothing is wrong; Lance’s  _ tinessa  _ is just taking longer,” her voice soured, “...for  _ whatever  _ reason.”

So they sat around waiting. At the ten minute mark they all groaned. Then the door creaked open, and when they all turned to see, their unimpressed looked quickly changed into ones of surprise. Lance looked...he was….

“Absolutely stunning, Lance,” Allura said. She smiled good naturedly. “I am certain the Vir’ians will appreciate one of their guests fully embracing their culture.” 

“The Princess is right. This should bring us in better standing with the Vir’ians,” Shiro said, nodding in agreement, “...and it’s very nice, Lance.”

“Dude that looks so good on you!” Hunk walked over to clap Lance on the back. Quickly, Lance’s face had been overcome with sheepishness at the praise. The boy looked tickled pink, all pretty, dopey smiles and gooey eyes. 

Even Pidge had some compliments, with a cheeky, “Maybe now people will be able to ignore the shit that comes out of your mouth.” 

Lance just laughed, replying, “Yeah, they’ll be too busy staring at it, entranced by my otherworldy beauty.” 

It scared Keith to admit Lance had a point. Not that  _ Keith _ was “entranced” or some other bullshit. Of course not.

It’s just that…

Lance  _ was  _ beautiful. 

The Vir’ians had given them all ceremonial robes, but while the rest of them wore floor-length, indistinct, sleeveless smocks...Lance…

Lance’s had a halter neckline, with a dainty golden chain high on his neck. The sleeves were off the shoulder, and made of a translucent, flowing material. The rest of the dress was of the same material, though it was an opaque white at the top of the dress, as the skirt spilled down to the floor the material became more transparent, slowly revealing the long lines of Lance’s legs from beneath the fabric. Lance was barefoot, Keith noticed, and instead had clinking golden anklets that covered the tops of his feet. The dress was deeply backless, and worst of all, had cutouts on the hips. Keith’s just couldn’t  _ help  _ but have his gaze drawn to the dark skin, so striking against the white of the dress. (Lance’s hips had a sharp jut to them, and the way they peeked out of the fabric made Keith want to grab them and yank Lance forward.) 

And the makeup, to steal Allura’s words, was  _ stunning.  _ The intricate, smooth lines covered almost every inch of Lance’s exposed skin, framing his face and running down his neck and arms and legs. (Keith wondered how far up they went on his thighs.) There were so many shades of blue. In that moment, Lance looked more ethereal than any of the aliens Keith had ever seen, more breathtaking than anything Keith could imagine.

...But that was just because Keith had  _ eyes.  _ It wasn’t a  _ unique _ opinion, especially based on how the others appraised him fondly.

But that didn’t stop Keith’s breath from catching painfully in his throat when Lance shot that soft smile his way. Keith realized he was the only one who hadn’t said anything, and Lance looked almost nervous waiting for a response. Keith didn’t even know what he  _ could  _ say. His brain had turned to mush the second Lance walked into the room and was now nothing but  _ “wow his eyes his skin his legs wow his hips wow beautiful--” _

“Uh…” Good one Keith. Very smooth. His face heated up, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from Lance. 

“Speechless? Don’t worry, Mullet, I’ll try not to steal the show.”

But they all knew he already had, and that was that.

They were a hit with the Vir’ians, but even more than that, the event opened up a new door for Lance. Allura’s mice had found some Altean beauty supplies, and Lance was ecstatic. Allura was never crazy about makeup, so she let Lance have it. 

He didn’t use it often, but when he did? 

Wow. 

Space was unpredictable, and there was more to worry about than making sure his eyeliner was perfect, so Lance often surrendered a full face in favor of, you guessed it, lipstick. He insisted it was easier.

“And because it lets me do  _ this!”  _ And then Lance left a pastel purple kiss mark on the side of Hunk’s face, which pulled a laugh out of the yellow paladin. Lance locked eyes with Pidge, who suddenly had a face of absolute terror. They tried to run, but with Lance’s long legs he was able to snatch them up and plant a big smooch on their forehead.

Keith made his escape before Lance noticed him leaving. He couldn’t...he didn’t know  _ what  _ he would do if Lance…

So he ran. 

“Lance what the fuck.” Keith heard Pidge grumble as he left the room.

At dinner later that night, Keith saw a purple kiss mark on the back of Allura’s hand, one over the middle of Shiro’s scar, and one high on Coran’s cheek, to go with the mark on Hunk and the smear on Pidge’s forehead. 

Keith sat there, completely kiss-less, quietly trying to ignore the rising tension while Lance gave him pointed stares. 

Keith tried to run, but the others didn’t want to suffer alone. 

“Keith? Where are you going?” Shiro said, obviously trying to bite back a grin, “We were going to discuss a new  _ bonding  _ exercise Coran thought of.”

“Yes, Keith, you must sit and listen, we take our paladin training very seriously and would appreciate your input.” Allura smiled, a dark gleam in her eye. 

Keith sat down, knowing he was unable to leave. He could see the rebuttals for his arguments forming in Pidge’s head if he tried. 

Coran flew into a long-winded story, but Keith could not for the life of him listen, not with Lance’s gaze so firmly on him. The blue paladin was positively  _ gleeful.  _ Then, Lance stood from his seat.

“Well, I’ll be back in a second, gotta go freshen up,” he proclaimed. No one tried to stop him. 

Keith’s heart pounded in his chest. He stared at his plate, almost trembling with the force it took to keep himself absolutely still. He felt Lance’s presence behind him and held his breath. 

“But before I go…” 

Then Lance’s hands were in his hair, pushing it away from his neck. Keith let out the most embarrassing, breathy sound when Lance’s soft lips pressed against his nape. The rest of the paladins were either giggling or respectfully looking away. Lance didn’t say a single word, but turned and ran out of the room. 

Keith took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to clear his head. He stood slowly. Keith looked directly at Allura. 

“Do you have any more lipsticks?”

\--

Lance was pacing in Blue’s hangar, hands completely covering his burning face. He gave a strangled yell. 

_ “Why  _ did I do that??” Lance groaned, “Why did I listen to  _ Pidge  _ of all people,  _ god.” _

When Lance and Pidge had gotten back to the common room, Keith was gone.

“So, Lance, you gonna give  _ all  _ of us kisses or are me and Hunk just special?” Pidge had a devious grin. 

“Of course! Why would I miss out on the opportunity to give a kiss to the princess? Or Shiro. Damn. I wonder if they would let me kiss their biceps?” 

“So you’re gonna kiss Coran too? I’m sure he'd appreciate it.” Hunk and Pidge gave each other a look Lance didn’t notice. 

“If I didn’t give my Uncle-Dad-figure a kiss he would probably be really sad and a sad Coran equals a sad ship,” Lance said, not catching on. 

“Ya gonna plant one on Keith?” Pidge snickered.

Lance froze. He started stammering incoherently. 

“Yeah, Lance, you can’t just leave Keith out,” Hunk said, “Remember how sad he was when you forgot to tell him about movie night that one time?”

Lance groaned. Keith looked like a  _ kicked puppy  _ when he walked into the common room to see Lance, Hunk, and Pidge cuddled up around a TV. He just kind of mumbled dejectedly and ran away and Lance felt  _ so bad  _ he got up to chase Keith and invite him. Lance vowed to never leave Keith out of things again. He  _ told  _ Hunk this vow to make sure he would keep it. 

Hunk...is a sneaky bastard. 

So Lance sat, while Pidge and Hunk chattered on a plan for Lance to follow, goading him on. The little voice in the back of Lance’s head that told him this was a bad idea was drowned out by the image of a blushing Keith with Lance’s mark on him.

So he  _ caved.  _ Lance caved like a weak little baby and he  _ kissed Keith.  _ He couldn’t even play it off as a joke because Lance had to be so fucking  _ extra _ that he kissed the  _ back of Keith’s neck.  _ Yes, maybe Lance had thought about it before. Sometimes Keith would put his hair up into a ponytail and that pale slip of skin looked so  _ inviting.  _

But that didn’t mean he had to go and  _ actually  _ do it!

Lance sat by Blue’s paw, listening to her calming rumble in his head.

Did she... _ did she sound amused? _

“Blue! Not you too!!” Lance cried. He threw himself over her paw. 

Lance rested his forehead on the cold metal. Then he heard hard, stomping footsteps. Lance jumped up, back against Blue, staring at the approaching figure. Keith looked ready to kill, all fierce sharp eyes and--holy shit.

Keith was wearing  _ bright red lipstick. _

Lance couldn’t move, not when Keith looked at him like  _ that.  _

Keith got right up into Lance’s space, manhandling the collar of his shirt. Lance was ready to be decked in the face and honestly he was  _ okay  _ with it if the last thing he was gonna see was Keith wearing that gorgeous red lipstick.

And then those lips were on his. 

\--

What Keith had intended to be a short, chaste thing, turned filthy within seconds. His resolve couldn’t handle the soft warmth of Lance against him, of Lance  _ moving  _ against him. Then his tongue darted out and he  _ tasted  _ Lance and Keith knew he was gone. 

He had Lance pushed up against the Blue Lion, their hips slotted together. When Keith pulled away Lance’s hair was a mess and his face was so dizzily aroused Keith almost pressed back in immediately. Lance’s mouth was a messy smear of red and purple and Keith could feel his own was no better. 

Lance’s swollen, shiny lips pulled into a lazy, breathless grin. He reached an arm up from where it was gripping Keith’s hair and moved it to his jaw. Lance wiped his thumb over Keith’s chin.

“Your lipstick’s messed up, hotshot.”


End file.
